The researchers analyzed the brain sizes and diets of over 140 primate species spanning apes, monkeys, lemurs and lorises and found that those who munched on fruit instead of leaves had 25 percent ...

The brain is a marvel of efficiency, honed by thousands of years of evolution so it can adapt and thrive in a rapidly changing world. Yet, despite decades of research, the mystery of how the brain ...

Web-Exclusive Video: Monkeys and Magic Fruit. ... Laurie aims to learn more about our brains’ evolutionary origins by figuring out what we share with monkeys – and what we don’t.

The two monkey species didn’t have more efficient routes than the two non-primates, which puts a serious dent in the fruit-diet hypothesis of brain evolution.

And so, a diet of fruit may in turn have led to the evolution of the bigger brains over generations, she adds. Monkeys and apes who incorporated animal proteins into their diets also had slightly ...

A new study suggests that diet had a big influence in driving the evolution of brain size in primates. Monkeys who thrive on fruit have bigger brains than their plant eating neighbors.